Facebook Groups alternatives for your community

Why admins are leaving Facebook Groups

• Jun 24, 2025: Group admins reported mass suspensions. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said: "We're aware of a technical error that impacted some Facebook Groups. We're fixing things now."
• Sep 10, 2025: Social Media Today reported that Facebook was telling admins it would remove Community Chats, the group chat feature.
• Nov 24, 2025: Facebook launched nicknames in Groups globally, letting members post under a custom name where admins turn it on.

Beyond those changes, your group's posts compete with everything else in the Facebook feed, and the rules and features can change without your input.

What you can and can't take with you

Facebook's "Export your information" tool exports a copy of your own Facebook information. The Help Center documents no way for group admins to export a group's member list or members' email addresses.

Your best built-in tool is membership questions: you can ask people who request to join up to 3 of them, and use them to point newcomers to your new home.

Tip: Update your membership questions before you announce the move, so new applicants see the link to your new community right away.

The 8 best Facebook Groups alternatives

All prices are as of October 2026.

CommentCamp

CommentCamp gives creators, brands and publishers free comments and community spaces embedded on their own website, with no ads, so the community lives on pages you control. Member levels, Q&A with accepted answers, spam filtering and a moderation queue are built in. It's built for threaded discussion and is in private early access: join the early-access waitlist.

• Price: $0 for site owners, free forever; readers never pay to read or comment
• Member data: Full data exports and an optional local comment mirror, both on the roadmap
• Best for: Communities that belong on your own website

Disclosure: CommentCamp is our product.

Discord

Discord gives you free real-time chat, voice and video in servers. In September 2026 it rolled out automatic age-group estimation worldwide except Australia and the UK.

• Price: Free
• Member data: Discord accounts; owners don't get members' email addresses
• Best for: Hobby groups that want live chat and voice

Circle

Circle combines community, courses, live events and a website, with unlimited members and a 14-day free trial. Admins can export a CSV of members with first name, last name and email.

• Price: Professional $89/month (plus a 2% transaction fee) or Business $199/month, billed annually
• Member data: CSV export with emails
• Best for: Creators and brands running courses and live events

Skool

Skool pairs a community with courses and includes unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls. There's a free trial, and yearly billing gives you 2 months free.

• Price: Hobby $9/month (10% transaction fee) or Pro $99/month (2.9% transaction fee)
• Member data: Members join with Skool accounts
• Best for: Course creators who want a simple setup at a low starting price

Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks bundles community, courses and branded apps in one hosted platform, with a free trial.

• Price: Launch $79/month and Scale $179/month, as listed on its pricing page
• Member data: Members join with Mighty Networks accounts
• Best for: Creators and brands that want courses and branded apps

Discourse

Discourse is forum software with a free hosted plan (2 staff seats, unlimited members), a Pro plan at $100/month and free self-hosting. Admins can export all users to a CSV that includes email addresses.

• Price: Free plan, Pro $100/month or free to self-host
• Member data: CSV export with emails; the whole database if you self-host
• Best for: Groups that want searchable threads and full data ownership

WhatsApp Communities

WhatsApp Communities is free and works well when members already use WhatsApp. A community holds up to 2,000 members.

• Price: Free
• Member data: Phone numbers
• Best for: Local groups under 2,000 people

Telegram

Telegram is free messaging that supports groups of up to 200,000 members and channels with unlimited subscribers.

• Price: Free
• Member data: Telegram accounts
• Best for: Big chat groups and broadcast channels

Facebook Groups alternatives compared

How to move your group without losing members

1. Pick one home. Choose a single platform first, so members don't scatter across two new places. Our guide on how to build an online community covers the groundwork.
2. Collect email addresses on your own sign-up page. Since Facebook documents no member export, this is your only direct line to everyone who makes the jump.
3. Announce the move with a date. Say where you're going and when.
4. Run both spaces for an overlap period. Keep posting in both so casual members see the news.
5. Redirect newcomers. Point your membership questions and a pinned post to the new sign-up page.
6. Keep the old group as an archive. Leave it up with the pinned redirect so people searching Facebook still find you.

Which alternative fits your group

• Creators, brands and publishers with a website: CommentCamp, free and ad-free, to keep the community on your own pages.
• Hobby groups that want voice and chat: Discord, or compare other Discord alternatives.
• Local groups: WhatsApp Communities for up to 2,000 members, or Telegram for bigger groups.
• Course creators and coaches: Skool from $9/month or Circle from $89/month. See more of the best community platforms.
• Long-form discussion groups: Discourse for threaded forums and member CSV exports.